Question For The Muskie Fishermen

[RayburnGuy]

Let me first say I know absolutely nothing about Muskie fishing. I have never fished for them and doubt that I will ever get the chance to do so.

That being said, I was watching a show on TV where they were fishing for Muskies and that got me to thinking. I used to bass fish at night a lot in the summer months and wondered if you guys ever fish for Muskies at night? I always thought that when a bass (especially a large trophy fish) bit an artificial lure it was making a mistake and that it was more apt to make that mistake at night. Would the same thing hold true for Muskies?

thanks guys,

Ben

[ROWINGADUBAY]

Sometimes night fishing is a key tactic even more so on high fishing pressure/boat traffic lakes.Las t summer on a fishing trip I would fish a stained colored lake during the day and then switch to the clearer lakes at night and had great luck doing this.

Edited March 7, 2012 by ROWINGADUBAY

[RayburnGuy]

Thanks Rowing. After watching that fishing show the other day I just got to wondering about that. Can't begin to imagine what goes through your mind when one of those big Muskies grabs your lure when it's dark and quiet. I bet you get a big jolt of adrenaline.

'Ben

[diemai]

Thanks Rowing. After watching that fishing show the other day I just got to wondering about that. Can't begin to imagine what goes through your mind when one of those big Muskies grabs your lure when it's dark and quiet. I bet you get a big jolt of adrenaline.

'Ben

Don't know muskie fishing either , don't have'em over here , but in younger years I used to do a lot of nightfishing for zander (European walleye) and the missus would target eel , ...both with bait like dead minnows , minnow chops(zander) or peeled crabs , meat pie , nightcrawler worms(eel) .

These species are generally more likely to strike at nighttime , at least in certain waters over here .

Nothing better than seeing your float with the chemical light attached starting to dance on the dark waves only to be rapidly driven sideways or ripped below the surface in an instance , .........or to see the bite indicating bobber hung underneath the mounted rod getting knocked against the rodblank and after the most exiting wait seeing the line pulled down off the spool by a hopefully strong fish and finally the anxious decision , when it would be the best time for a hookset !

greetz , Dieter

[RayburnGuy]

I know exactly what you mean Dieter. It seems the senses are heightened when your fishing at night. For one thing your brain is not being flooded with everything that goes on during the day when we rely mostly on the sense of sight and sound for information. I know it's a lot easier for me to concentrate on my fishing at night when everything is dark and quiet. It's almost like your riding a razors edge of anticipation when your waiting to feel that next bite. And down here in the southern states fishing at night is a good way to escape the heat during those hot summer days.

Ben

[RayburnGuy]

I've been watching some musky fishing shows here lately and when those guys do the circle 8 at the boat and one of those big suckers strikes I don't see how they keep from breaking the rod or line. Or at the very least leaving a permanent stain in their underwear. I can't even begin to imagine what that must feel like at night. I've bumped huge alligator gar at night with the trolling motor and came real close to jumping out of the boat when they make what seems like an explosion leaving there. You can bet if I ever get up north I will have to give them a try.

Thanks for the replies guys. I love discussing this kind of stuff.

Ben

[diemai]

@ RayburnGuy

..........Ben , during hot summers over here night fishing would be your only option as well , at least in stillwater or moderate current , ........the warmth and the bright sunlight simply locks up their jaws through the time of day .

But the time around sunrise would also be OK , but I can never make it that early to hit the waters , LOL .

And as you've stated , not that convinient to sit in the burning sun all day long , cooks your brains !

But I haven't had much luck with lures during darkness , though I frequently used to cast some through my years of night fishing , ........in fact I can only remember one zander that took one of my homemade jigspinners .

greetz , Dieter

[YoungForge]

I live near a great Muskie fishery but don't do enough of it, one thing I know is the fishing certainly heats up at night.

[RayburnGuy]

Dieter, the lake where I used to live was, at one time, full of hydrilla. In the mid-lake area it would grow out to somewhere around 15 feet deep and about 18 feet deep on the clearer south end of the lake. In the summer it would form thick mats on the surface and we used heavy jigs from 3/4 ounce up to 1 1/2 ounces to punch through the mats. Sometimes the fish would suspend a foot or two below the mats and they would grab the jig as soon as it punched through the matted grass. A lot of times you would never feel the bite when they were doing this. You'd be shaking the jig thinking it was hung up in the hydrilla and all of a sudden a bass would just about jerk the rod out of your hands. There were times when I'd be fishing like this and go half a day or more without a bite and then all of a sudden you'd get into a school of fish and start jerking out fish anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds. There were a lot of times you would have a five fish limit that weighed anywhere from 25 to 35 pounds in just a few minutes.

I was fishing in late August one year and it was so hot sweat drops as big as golf balls were dripping off my elbows ( OK...I could be exaggerating just a little) and had gone all day catching only 3 or 4 small fish. I was just about to give up and go home when I got into one of those bunches of fish I was talking about. In 9 casts I had 7 hookups and managed to catch 6 of them. ( I returned all of them to the lake after weighing them)The best 5 weighed over 27 pounds and this all happened in about 5 minutes. Two days later I went back in the same area and in about 1 1/2 hours the best five fish I had weighed over 35 lbs. These were released after weighing as well. Those are the kind of days you never forget.

Ben

Edited March 17, 2012 by RayburnGuy

[diemai]

@ RayburnGuy

Very nice fishing story , Ben , ........I could never imagine , that it was possible to get a lure through such thick vegetation(and still pull fish out) , .....googled the name of the plants , saw pictures , .......we have lots of these over here as well , they've grown increasingly due to the past years , as many waters have become clearer .

Yeah , .........fishing surely does provide some lifetime memories , .........especially about the ones , that got away !

I remember the almost 50" pike hooked on a homemade small "squidtail" spinner , .....cast for perch on just about 6pounds test mono , .........I had battled her for a long while and finally started to get her tired , .......once she had already come to the surface at boatside just to see , who was troubling her !

I had upped anchor of my small boat before to be able to play her in more open water , when suddenly a bunch of motorboats and yachts were coming up the river , .......had to throw anchor again not to drift into their course with that big fish on the line .

Well , ......she finally took a chance on the anchor's rope , ....gone she was , ...would have surely been my personal best !

................or the at least 20" monster perch , .......hooked on a 5" sinking glider meant for pike , .........it threw the lure just 10 feet from the boat , ...I had seen her , .........my wife had to stop me from throwing my rod after that fish in endless anger !

Or , .....last summer in a small river , .......my wife hat put three feeder rods on their rod rests close to the bank being located about 3 feet above water level , ......, all rod tips pointing into the skies to avoid the faster current catching up more submerged line than neccessary .

She had rigged small chumming baskets and used maggots and small earthworm as bait , hoping to catch a smaller carp or a good bream , roach or chub .

I just took a break from casting lures and sat next to her and we were talking , when I suddenly saw one of her rods being violently ripped forward to swing to a horizontal level pivoting on the longer front rod rest !

Before she could turn around to grab the rod in one fluid movement it got rapidly propelled towards the water in an arc course and hit the surface well about 15 feet from the bank , .......still pulled downstream for a few feet to finally submerge never to be seen again !

I instanly grabbed my lure rod trying to catch the line with a spoon , but I did not stand a chance , ...rod , reel and fish gone .

Now we are wondering , ........was it a huge carp , ...a silure(European catfish) , a seatrout or even one of the rare salmon ?

Still got some appointments at that little river , ......next summer !

Greetz , Dieter

[RayburnGuy]

Sounds like you've got some payback coming from that river Dieter. And I know what you mean about losing the big ones. I was fishing one spring on Rayburn throwing Rattletraps. I had upgraded the hooks and put new split rings on the new lures I was going to be fishing the night before. Rattletraps were known for using cheap hardware at the time. The next morning I hooked into a huge fish and could tell she was a good one from how violent the strike was and that she immediately headed for deeper water. Wasn't worried about breaking the line as it was 25 lb. test so I really clamped down on her when she got into the deeper, open water. She hesitated for a second and I could feel her struggling. All of a sudden she was gone and I thought the line had broken. I was devastated and just sit down in the boat hanging my head and not being able to believe the line had broken. When I finally got up to reel in and put on a new lure I could feel the 'Trap vibrating and couldn't imagine what was going on still thinking the line had broken. When I got the lure back to the boat it was then I realized what she had done. The front split ring was opened up and the hook was gone. The back treble looked like you had placed it on a steel table and slammed a piece of iron down on it. Just smashed flat. That was the first and only time I've ever had anything like that happen. After going back to the house and stocking up on snacks and drinks I went back to that same spot and stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights trying to get her to bite one more time. I never left that one little stretch of water for the entire time and only stopped fishing to take naps. Never did get her to give me another chance though. That's another one of those things I'll never forget.

cheers,

Ben

[Musky Glenn]

RayburnGuy, You need to schedule yourself a trip to Tenn, NC or one of the other southern states that have good populations of muskies and give them a try sometime. If you are ever in NC just let me know. I don't believe I could stand the excitement of a night strike from a musky. Daytime is all I can stand. When they blow up at boat side it will really start your heart pumping. The figure eight at boat side is a wreck waiting to happen. We call it"practicing our looking cool move", when in reality all we are doing is trying to hang on and stay in the boat. I have caught one musky here this year on March the 8th. It was 39" and 18#. They have to be 42" to be legal here, but I release all mine anyway.

[RayburnGuy]

Glenn if I ever get up your way I will definitely give you a call. I sure wouldn't mind hooking up with one. As much as I love bass fishing I've sure been getting a kick out of watching the musky shows on television. I can't think of many fish that hit the lure with such an explosive strike. Especially right at the boat. Now I'm starting to wonder how many fishermen have been pulled into the lake when one of those big suckers hits when doing that figure 8. That should make a few blooper reels. lol

Ben

[diemai]

@ RayburnGuy

...............Ben , great story , ........but this is the bad thing about it , that we'd never get to know what kinda fish was the cause , ........but maybe better this way as if having already seen it and still loosing in the very last moment !

greetz , Dieter

[RayburnGuy]

I guess we've all got at least one story about the one that got away Dieter. The memories, and the stories about those memories, is one of the great things about fishing. For me at least.

By the way, has your fishing season opened yet? I know you have to be more than ready to get some fishing done.

Ben

[Grey Ghost]

I live in Minnesota, great, GREAT, musky fishing here. I have been fishing for around 20 years or so, prior to fishing musky, I mainly targeted bass. I have been fishing musky's for the past 8 years or so. All I can say about musky fishing is this. You definately are not seeking a high volume fish, most times out I'll see one (get a "follow") but I'll end up landing one for every 10 or so hours on the water. Most people say "why do you fish for something that you rarely catch", or "don't you get bored just throwing a lure over and over for a fish that you catch so infrequently". The answer is it is all in the anticipation for that catch. When you cast for hours on end with nothing to show for it, and then you get a follow of a musky after your bait at boatside, your knees knock and you loose your breath. It is all anticipating that next fish, it drives us! In Minnesota, we have a lot of musky fishermen around, and pressure on the lakes is high and only getting higher. Fishing at night is a good way to up the odds of catching a fish as there are fewer boats on the lake and fishing pressure is lower. A main issue with daytime fishing for musky's is that there are so many pleasure boaters and jet skiers out there churning up the water. This is a pain to fish around, but also results in more noise, waves and other undesirables for musky's. Also, musky's are an ambush feeder, and they have great night vision. They are genetically tuned in for fishing at dark and will generally be more ready to bite. When fishing at night, it adds even more to the anticipation of a strike. Mainly, since you cant see the actual fish following your bait. It litereally just strikes and if you'r not ready, it will pull that rod out of your hands. It is such a rush! Most of us have learned to engage the reel at boatside when going into your figure 8 so that your thumb puts pressure on the line and not the drag. When you get a boatside strike, at dark, in the figure 8, there is nothing quite like it. The fish generally hit harder at night since they are more in feeding mode, and will splash you at boatside, you will get wet. Fishing at night increases the difficulty level due to not being able to see the weedbeds, rock humps, structure you are fishing. You need to know your area. Also, when you go to land a fish at night, it increases the difficulty in getting it in the net, and getting the hooks out. So, you have to be careful. It is often difficult to do since your heart rate is pounding. When fishing at night for musky's you generally should be pulling your lures in slower and it is best to stay away from super eratic lures or presentations. I stick with straight pulling top waters (tail whackers, creepers, not walk the dog types) and will pull buck tails and crank baits. Sub surface gliders are too eratic, so are dive/rise type jerk baits like Suick's. If you are ever in the northland area, Minnesota, Wisconsin or Canada, you HAVE to go out on a nightime musky hunt. Get a guide. You will likely be hooked and end up like the rest of us musky nuts spending $30+ per bait without a blink. We also have way too many lures! But don't we all?

[diemai]

@ Grey Ghost

Don't have musky over here in Europe , ........but I've surely enjoyed reading your post , ...thanks !

tight lines , diemai

[woodieb8]

i live on l.st clair muskies are everywhere. the population was last est at 180,000 at nit i have seen some big fish fooled on late summer evenings very shallow.